Barbie is a strong, independent doll. But is she a feminist icon? It's complicated. Since her introduction in 1959, Barbie's impact has been revolutionary. Far from being a toy designed by men to oppress women, she was a toy invented by women to teach women what was expected of them, for better or for worse. Whether tarred-and-glittered as antifeminist puffery or celebrated as a feminist icon (or, at any rate, an important cultural touchstone in understanding...

National Book Award Finalist: The "impressive" conclusion to the "magisterial trilogy on the mythology of violence in American history" (Film Quarterly). "The myth of the Western frontier-which assumes that whites' conquest of Native Americans and the taming of the wilderness were preordained means to a progressive, civilized society-is embedded in our national psyche. U.S. troops called Vietnam 'Indian country.' President John Kennedy invoked 'New...

"From the New Yorker staff writer Hua Hsu, a gripping memoir on friendship, grief, the search for self, and the solace that can be found through art. In the eyes of 18-year-old Hua Hsu, the problem with Ken--with his passion for Dave Matthews, Abercrombie & Fitch, and his fraternity-is that he is exactly like everyone else. Ken, whose Japanese American family has been in the United States for generations, is mainstream; for Hua, a first-generation...

"Albert Einstein's face is still one of the most recognizable in the world and he's widely considered to be the first modern-day celebrity. While many of his discoveries continue to define our daily lives, it's not just his genius that continues to shape our world. Today, more people know Einstein as an icon rather than a theorist-decades after his death, he's a celebrity with a massive online following. The Einstein Effect shows all the ways his...

Cool'. It was a new word and a new way to be, and in a single generation, it became the supreme compliment of American culture. 'The Origins of Cool in Postwar America' uncovers the hidden history of this concept and its new set of codes that came to define a global attitude and style. As Joel Dinerstein reveals in this dynamic book, cool began as a stylish defiance of racism, a challenge to suppressed sexuality, a philosophy of individual rebellion,...

Discover what life was like in the 1940s.

"A history of the thinkers, writers, and artists who shaped intellectual culture in Cold War Europe and America"--

"This book will engage your library's users through toy-centric events that riff on Everything Barbie, Strawberry Shortcake, Cabbage Patch Kids and more; Poodle Totes, Flannel Pillows, Flair Fun, Graffiti Art, and other DIY projects; video screenings such as I Want My MTV, Nostalgia Nickelodeon Night, Cult Movie Fest, and Marvel Madness; programs that incorporate yummy treats like cake pops, Chex mix, Classic Candies by the Decade, and popular microwaveable...

College students crammed into phone booths. Couples dancing until they drop. Daredevils swallowing one live goldfish after another. Streakers dashing naked down the street. Planking and flash mobs and robotic pets. These are just some of the crazy fads that have caught hold in the United States over the last century. Where do these ideas come from and why do they catch people's imagination? Fads reflect the mood and spirit of a particular time, and...

"In this book, Judy Kutulas complicates the common view that the 1970s were a time of counterrevolution against the radical activities and attitudes of the previous decade. Instead, Kutulas argues that the experiences and attitudes that were radical in the 1960s were becoming part of mainstream culture in the 1970s, as sexual freedom, gender equality, and more complex notions of identity, work, and family were normalized through popular culture--television,...